Planning the rebuild of a merge publication (publisher) server

I am currently running a SQL Server 2000, which hosts the replication
publisher & distributor of a large merge publication DB. The current NT 4.0
server is scheduled for complete replacement and upgrade (to Win Server 2003
w/ SQL Server 2000) and I am looking for best practice recommendations for
transferring this database and replication topology from one system to
another. If possible, I would prefer to not to have to perform a complete
rebuild the replication topology. SQL BOL seems to indicate that Backup &
Recovery is not an option. Any ideas?
Thanks, Kevin
Kevin,
you should be able to detach and attach your publication database provided
you migrate master, msdb and the distribution database first, and the new
server name is identical to the old one. If this is too much hassle, then
you'd be better off scripting out the replication settings, tailoring them
with the new server name and then recreating from scratch.
HTH,
Paul Ibison SQL Server MVP, www.replicationanswers.com
(recommended sql server 2000 replication book:
http://www.nwsu.com/0974973602p.html)